The Rolls-Royce Art Programme champions prominent artists of international merit. As a benefactor partner, the marque enables artists to realise significant projects, explore innovative ideas and engage with audiences in new ways. Through these collaborations, Rolls-Royce celebrates a shared ethos of excellence in creativity and craft.
Dan Holdsworth’s work explores the relationship between landscape, photography, science and technology. Rolls-Royce commissioned him to create a piece that would explore and investigate both real and virtual representations of a frozen landscape. His use of digital mapping data expands the photographic process and explores the changing nature of human perception as our understanding of science and technology evolves.
Holdsworth’s investigations into our imaginative relationship to place and landscape have focused upon ‘presenting the unpresentable’, through the use of new imaging technologies that allow us to understand our planet. His exploration of what lies beyond our understanding, and beyond ‘the naked eye’, goes beyond the camera lens even whilst employing it.
Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá first emerged onto the underground Miami art scene in the 1980s, experimenting with various art forms, colour and abstract calligraphy. Since then, he has gained worldwide critical acclaim for his huge wall-scale works, which reimagine the chaos and rush of the metropolis in photorealistic fragments of paint.
As part of the Rolls-Royce Art Programme, Parlá returns to his native Miami Beach for an immersive installation called Roots. Set in the Jewel Box as part of the National YoungArts Foundation, his work explores the connections between past and present, both in his own family history and the building itself. Parlá explained, “My old friend once said, ‘Without roots the tree won’t grow.’ This has always stuck with me and remained present in the process of my work over the years.”
Ведущий китайский кинематографист и фотограф Ян Фудун известен своими работами, пронизанными одновременно уважением к традициям и стремлением к современным технологиям. Поэтому в доме Rolls-Royce в Гудвуде его прежде всего впечатлило мастерство изготовления автомобилей, с которым ему довелось познакомиться «из первых рук».
Для нашей арт-программы Фудун снимает короткометражный фильм. Концепция его фильма, основанного на китайской мифологии, — о добродетелях настойчивости и силы воли, — очень близка к тому, к чему он стремится уже давно и воплощение чего он, наконец, увидел в реальности. Его работа была представлена в Шанхае в декабре 2016 года.
Не так давно компания Rolls-Royce Motor Cars пригласила известного эмиратского художника Мохаммеда Казема принять участие в уникальном проекте. Предполагалось, что автор, известный своим интересом к использованию в работах цифр, обозначающих географическую долготу и широту места, сумеет следовать истине в форме.
Он провел некоторое время работая бок‑о‑бок с нашими мастерами в доме Rolls-Royce в Гудвуде. Их искусная работа настолько вдохновила его, что он решил положить ее в основу своего произведения. И это вдохновение было обоюдным. Скульптура сама по себе стала источником идей для создания автомобиля по индивидуальному заказу, который разрабатывался параллельно. Оба результата были выставлены рядом друг с другом в конце 2016 года.
Чарующие скульптурные инсталляции признанного во всем мире индийского художника своего поколения Сударшана Шетти экспонируются на различных выставках. Не так давно он был назначен художественным директором биеннале в Кочи-Музирис.
Созданная Шетти для арт-программы Rolls-Royce инсталляция, основанная на народной индийской сказке, представлена двухканальным фильмом и скульптурой. Она расположилась рядом с существующим проектом «Летающий автобус» в Мумбаи и увидела свет в ноябре 2016 года, после чего переехала в Нью-Дели.
Isaac Julien’s Stones Against Diamonds is a video installation commissioned by Rolls-Royce. Filmed in Iceland’s remote glacial ice caves, the work was inspired by a letter written by the Brazilian modernist architect and designer, Lina Bo Bardi.
Within the film, the artist explores Bardi’s love of semi-precious stones. He incorporates the Rolls-Royce iconic Spirit of Ecstasy, led by the character actress Vanessa Myrie as a ‘spirit guide’ – taking the viewer on a journey from one landscape to another. Isaac’s installation was debuted privately at the Venice Biennale and made its first public appearance at Art Basel in 2015.
Brazilian artist Ana Maria Tavares’ commission for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Deviating Utopias, is an installation that creates a virtual environment. It depicts a blend of technology and craftsmanship, industrial and organic materials, and speed and silence.
Ana Maria Tavares said: “During my recent visit to the Home of Rolls-Royce, I was struck by the way it has a productive function while being like a capsule that suspends time. These elements inspired me to present a work for Rolls-Royce as a virtual immersive environment, creating a dream journey to bridge the rational and organic worldviews.” The work was presented during Berlin Gallery Weekend in 2015.
Morgan Wong’s ambitious commission Untitled – Expressway combines abstract video, archive materials and a narration by a fictional character. He seeks to remind his audience that the process of transformation – and the speed at which it occurs – can deviate from humanity.
The footage was captured while cruising on a route connecting the present heart of Hong Kong to a new town in the city’s prehistoric history. The Spirit of Ecstasy, which adorns each Rolls-Royce motor car, was the main inspiration for the film. As the journey unfolds, the iconic emblem seems to observe the changes in the Hong Kong landscape.
Displayed as a video projection – and also on a screen in the rear compartment of a Rolls-Royce motor car – the audience were able to experience a virtual voyage in an intimate and timeless way. The video was also presented at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Hong Kong showroom.
Manal Al Dowayan is the Saudi Arabian artist behind I Had No Wings. Containing four wall-sized screens of projected footage combined with sound, the video immersed viewers within its unique sensory experience.
Describing the piece, Al Dowayan said: “The images in this video were collected from the rear compartment of a car driving me around the streets of a city in Saudi Arabia. It addresses the physical and ethereal states of being captured in a moment where you float between the present and future – where many find themselves when the environment surrounding them is in a state of negation.”
The commission was presented during Art Dubai 2015. The cars the artist drew inspiration from were in situ at this particular showing, for audiences to reflect upon and to forge their own creative connections with.
Carlos Rolon’s neon sculpture, Untitled (Opulence), is inspired by the traditional Rolls-Royce Pantheon grille and the Spirit of Ecstasy. Measuring 3 by 3.5 metres, this installation explores movement, lines and the interaction of colour – together with changes of mood and perception.
By juxtaposing the use of neon with a mandala (circle) pattern, the work combines the language of post-minimalism, Pop Art and abstraction. Meditative and therapeutic, it creates a trance-like effect for the viewer.
Untitled (Opulence) appeals to the senses and projects into the future, while telling the story of mythical beauty, energy and ecstasy. The sculpture was unveiled during Art Stage Singapore in January 2015.
Cipher of L. is a Rolls-Royce commission and installation by Berlin-based artist Angela Bulloch. She is known for her interest in systems, patterns and rules – and the creative territory that lies between mathematics and aesthetics.
Cipher of L. is in the form of a ‘pixel box’ that mimics the proportions of Rolls-Royce Phantom and explores the relationship between art, technology and craftsmanship. As the panels of the box change colour, they emit coloured light across the other motor cars in the Rolls-Royce showroom – each an individually commissioned piece of automotive art.
The work was unveiled in October 2014 at the marque’s London showroom in Berkeley Square – on display for three weeks and coinciding with the city’s Frieze Art Fair.
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